Colliers International research shows that office occupier take-up
in central London has hit 6m sq ft in the year to date, with the entire second
quarter space expected to hit 3.3m sq ft.
On the first day following the election, Colliers’ West End agency
team received more than 120 enquiries, which signalled pent-up demand from
businesses awaiting the election results.
Paul Smith, Colliers co-head of central London agency, said: “Many
occupiers were inevitably sitting on the fence in terms of addressing their
office occupancy needs for about eight weeks in the run up to the general
election but the hiatus came to an end once the Conservative government was
announced.”
More than 65% of West End office take-up was in the 5,000+ sq ft
market though significant shortages of sub 2,000 sq ft units saw rent levels in
some villages see double digit percentage uplift from Q1 to Q2.
Colliers predict average annual rental growth for 2015 is expected
to hit 11.7% in London, though Midtown and City markets are set to see growth
exceed this amount.